Give up smoking!

If you ask yourself why you should give up smoking just take a look at the risks and costs of continuing to smoke. First you should know that 22% of all male deaths are due to smoking and 11% of all female deaths have the same cause. Narrowed and hardened arteries, cold hands and feet, weakened bones, peripheral vascular disease, cold skin, osteoporoses and decreased fitness are just a few smoking effects, but the risk of developing smoking related illnesses can be reduced by giving up smoking. 

Chemicals in Tobacco Smoke

In tobacco smoke are over 4,000 chemicals like carbon monoxide which is a colourless, odourless gas that in large doses is lethal, but in smaller doses causes shortness of breath and increased heart rate. 

Another harmful ingredient within cigarette smoke is hydrogen cyanide, a colourless gas that evens a short-term exposure can lead to vomiting, dizziness, headaches and nausea. 

And let us not forget about nicotine, the reason why cigarettes are as addictive as they are (to give up smoking would be far easier if you didn’t have this little nasty in there!). In larger quantities nicotine is extremely poisonous; a person would die within minutes if you place 60g of pure nicotine on her/ his tongue.

Costs of Smoking

If you want to give up smoking, just think about the costs of smoking, and I am not just talking money, giving up can be a good idea. Besides the financial costs, smoking also has physical costs such as wheezing, reduced fertility, risky pregnancy, damaged circulation, damaged taste buds, nicotine-stained fingers, heart attack, lung cancer and the list goes on. And do not forget about the social costs like polluting the air with carcinogens, dusty and stuffy home, spoilt clothes and furniture, smoke gets in your eyes and so on.

Second-hand Smokers

Smoking also affect your love ones not only you. Non-smokers are also exposed to the 4,000 chemicals when they breathe other people's tobacco smoke. Secondhand smoking can affect your children; they are more likely to get chest illnesses, ear infections, wheezing and childhood asthma, tonsillitis and to smoke themselves. Exposing people around you to secondhand smoke you will put them at risk of the same diseases as you.

But it’s not all doom, the minute you give up smoking your body starts to recover; your circulation improves, you breathe more easily, your skin warms up, your risk of disease starts to fall, you will have a cleaner, fresher house, you will no longer put the persons around you at risk and you will be a lot richer!

Dangers Of Smoking

Almost everybody knows that smoking is bad for the health. Images of blackened lungs line school hallways and hospital waiting rooms, but despite this people continue to take up smoking. This may have to do with the pervasive romantic image of smoking -- an image that has nothing in common with reality.

There are many ways to take tobacco. You can chew it, inhale it through the nose, and smoke it in the form of cigars or cigarettes. No matter how it's taken it is dangerous, but because smoking is the most popular way to consume tobacco it has also received the greatest attention from the medical field and the media.

When a smoker inhales a puff of cigarette smoke the large surface area of the lungs allows nicotine to pass into the blood stream almost immediately. It is this nicotine "hit" that smokers crave, but there is a lot more to smoke than just nicotine. In fact, there are more than 4000 chemical substances that make up cigarette smoke and many of them are toxic.

Cigarette smoke is composed of 43 carcinogenic substances and more than 400 other toxins that can also be found in wood varnish, nail polish remover, and rat poison. All of these substances accumulate in the body and can cause serious problems to the heart and lungs.

Cancer is the most common disease associated with smoking. Smoking is the cause of 90% of lung cancer cases and is related to 30% of all cancer fatalities. Other smoking-related cancers include cancers of the mouth, pancreas, urinary bladder, kidney, stomach, esophagus, and larynx.

Besides cancer, smoking is also related to several other diseases of the lungs. Emphysema and bronchitis can be fatal and 75% of all deaths from these diseases are linked to smoking.

Smokers have shorter lives than non-smokers. On average, smoking takes 15 years off your life span. This can be explained by the high rate of exposure to toxic substances which are found in cigarette smoke.

Smokers also put others at risk. The dangers of breathing in second-hand smoke are well known. Smokers harm their loved ones by exposing them to the smoke they exhale. All sorts of health problems are related to breathing in second-hand smoke. Children are especially susceptible to the dangers of second-hand smoke because their internal organs are still developing. Children exposed to second-hand smoke are more vulnerable to asthma, sudden infant death syndrome, bronchitis, pneumonia, and ear infections.

Smoking can also be dangerous for unborn children. Mothers who smoke are more likely to suffer from miscarriages, bleeding and nausea, and babies of smoking mothers have reduced birth weights or may be premature. These babies are more susceptible to sudden infant death syndrome and may also have lifelong health complications due to chest infections and asthma.

It is never too late to give up smoking, even those who have smoked for 20 years or more can realize tremendous health benefits from giving up the habit.

General Information On Smoking

In the sixties, when the hippies ruled the world, cigarettes were available just about anywhere, and they can smoke pretty much anywhere they please – even in hospitals! Different advertisements of cigarettes filled the streets as well. But nowadays we're more aware about the different effects smoking can bring. It has also come to a point where smoking is prohibited in public places, and cigarette packets are required to include fair warning about their product's ill effects.

Here are some basic information about smoking:

1. Smoking is one of the most common forms of recreational drug abuse. Smoking, once started on, is a hard habit to break. This is thanks to a substance called nicotine which is found in tobacco leaves. Nicotine, like heroin and other addictive narcotics, make the mind and body quickly get used to it that it does not feel normal without it.

2. Nine out of ten tobacco and cigarette smokers taste their first puff before they reach the age of eighteen. And most adults who have started smoking in their teen never thought they would get hooked on the habit when they started. This is the same reason why they advise that it is easier not to get started on the habit.

3. Smoking increases a person's risk of developing heart diseases like heart attacks and stroke. It also increases the chances of having different forms of cancer like lung cancer, throat cancer, and cancer of the mouth. It may give a person lung problems like bronchitis, and emphysema.

4. Smokers are more likely to be absent from work than non-smokers, and their illnesses tend to last longer. This means smokers may incur more medical costs because they see physicians more often. They also have a tendency to be admitted to the hospital more often and for longer periods of time as compared to those who do not smoke.

5. Smokers have a lower survival rate after surgery than non-smokers. This is because cigarette smoking may also affect the body's immune system, which may cause delayed would healing, and reduce immune response. And because the immune response is reduced, there is a great probability that complications may come up after surgery.

6. Periodontitis, a serious gum disease which may lead to tooth and bone loss, may also be caused by cigarette smoking because it smoking affects the body's natural ability to fight off infection and repair damaged tissues.

7. Smokers have a higher chance at developing peptic ulcers, which can be located in the stomach and the duodenum, as compared to people who do not smoke cigarettes. If peptic ulcers are left untreated, this condition may be fatal.

8. Aside from serious medical conditions, smoking may also give a person bad skin. This is because smoking restricts blood vessels, preventing oxygen and other nutrients from getting to the skin. 

9. Cigarette smoking may also leave a person with bad breath. And if it becomes persistent, it may develop into a condition called halitosis. 

10. The smell of stale smoke lingers and sticks to a smoker's clothes and hair. And it is pretty difficult to remove.

Before you start smoking, think it over and ask yourself: “Do I really want all these medical conditions to affect me?” This may as well help you decide whether or not you're going to light that first stick or not.

Don't Want a Cigarette: Help Quit Smoking Is Here!

If you don't want a cigarette: help quit smoking is what you need. Many people are tired of smoking and do not want to continue it. But their addiction drives them to continue to buy cigarettes. The nicotine in there blood stream will not let them just give up it grabs them with constant cravings until the person finally gives in. 

Smokers often fight daily with their cravings for more and more nicotine. It is a substance that once in the body has an extremely difficult time letting go. People who have only smoked for a couple of months can still find quitting smoking to be extremely difficult. For those that have smoked for years and year, the idea of quitting smoking is two fold.

Heavy smokers have to fight against the nicotine addiction and try to become smoke-free over time. It is difficult for the body to rely on nicotine and then have to start functioning on less and less of it. But most heavy smokers find that a gradual cessation from the nicotine or tobacco works best for them. Becoming totally smokeless can often take several months. 

The second part of quitting for, people who have smoked for several years, is the lifestyle changes that it will bring. For years the person has spent hundreds of dollars on cigarettes every month. They are now faced with a surplus of cash that can be hard to handle productively. Smokers also have developed habits or rituals that surround their smoking habit. These may include meeting friends at work during smoke breaks or going to a favorite bar to smoke and have a drink.

When the smoker is finally able to quit smoking their trigger spots will still be there. If there was a certain restaurant that they always smoked at it may be hard to eat there and not have a cigarette. These responses are normal and it does not matter if you quit smoking cold turkey or did it over a long period of time. The craving for nicotine can last years after a person has quit smoking. 

It is important for a person who is trying to quit smoking to incorporate other lifestyle changes into their lives. If they normally meet for a smoking break twice a day it may be helpful to use that time to go for a walk. Smokers need to recognize their triggers and learn to avoid situations that are tempting to them. 

Through monitoring of their environment and adjusting their quitting techniques it is possible for people at all smoking levels to quit. Quitting smoking may take a different amount of time for each individual and there is not RIGHT or specific program that can guarantee success. 

A smoker that is aware of their triggers and is able to avoid them when necessary will have a better probability of quitting smoking and sticking to it. Millions of people every year try to quit smoking; it is a difficult thing to do. But extremely worth it for the people who do it.

Why Most People Fail To Quit Smoking

Did you know that according to statistics, only 10% or even less of those who tried to quit smoking only succeeded? Yes, even so, of those who quitted smoking, are not guaranteed to stop forever।

Occasionally, you would hear the same old stories, on how people would just quit for 1, 2 or 3 weeks/months even years, and then return to the old habit. Not only that, they will come back and smoke even more and more. It is as if

They are smoking with a vengeance!

Because they had to “cover” back the loss of cigarettes intake while they were taking a break when they were trying to quit. It may seemed funny or weird to you but this is true. It happens so often I’m sure you came across this situation at least once in your life before.

Did you know that according to statistics, only 10% or even less of those who tried to quit smoking only succeeded? Yes, even so, of those who quitted smoking, are not guaranteed to stop forever.

So why did those people and so many of them fail? They were lacking a very important aspect. You see my friend, they were lacking of

A STRONG Purpose To Quit Smoking!

This may seem over simplified at first, but this is crucial in the preparation of quitting smoking. Not only do you need a purpose, you must have a purpose so strong that it almost certainly becomes a conviction for you to quit smoking. I’m sure you heard somewhere before that why is more important than how.

Without a purpose, regardless of whether you can quit smoking, you may pick in up in the future.

Here’s how you should create a strong purpose to quit smoking:

1) Pick up a paper and write down how smoking has affected you in the past.

2) Next write down of how smoking is affecting you presently.

3) Followed by how smoking will 100% definitely affect you in the future.

You may relate any issues relating to this matter. Perhaps your family, love ones, relatives, job, career, health, performance, your time and money. You may relate how smoking has affected all those areas in your life.

The second reason why people fail to quit smoking is that many people do not know how to cope with the withdrawal symptoms. In the process of quitting smoking, many suffer from various symptoms such as anxiety, frustration and irritation.

Soon one may lose concentration and would be utterly “paralyzed” because of the addiction.

Alternative Methods to Quit Smoking

The article talks about the different methods that can be used in helping individuals who want to quit smoking. Though there are many over-the-counter medications that are designed to help smokers, these products may also bring side effects and interact with other drugs. Because of this reason many individuals are trying alternative methods to help them live a nicotine-free life.

It is estimated that 70 percent of smokers want to quit, it's no wonder that there are many quit smoking products and programs out that are designed for these individuals. These are scientifically-proven quit smoking programs that have gotten the nod of many health professionals. However, using these products may not be that effective and may bring side-effects. For this reason, many alternative therapies are out to help many individuals in their desire to be nicotine-free. These alternative methods are considered by many as safe and effective way of quitting smoking. 

Acupuncture

Medical studies show that acupuncture may increase the levels of endorphins in the body. Endorphins are opiate-like substances in the body that are known elevate the mood and bring moments of relaxation. These factors may lower the cravings for that stick or pack of cigarette. Many health professionals recommend at least four sessions of acupuncture during the first month of quitting. 

Herbal remedies 

There are no herbs that contain nicotine. However, there are herbs like chamomile that has a calming effect that may help one's transition to life as a non-smoker. The calming effect of this herb may help one cope with stressful situations that may lead one to light a cigarette. However, individuals who want to try this herb should seek the approval of a health professional because it might produce an allergic reaction and interact with other drugs. 

Hypnosis

Smokers have natural cigarette triggers. Factors like driving, eating, watching TV, and stress may entice individuals to smoke. With subconscious reminders about the positive effects of quitting smoking, hypnosis may help reduce nicotine cravings and improve one's ability to quit smoking. In addition to these health benefits hypnosis therapy uses no drugs and can be completed completely and there is no long-term cause. 

Exercise and nutrition

Regular exercise may improve blood flow and help individuals deal with tensions and stress in life without cigarettes. Studies show that moderate exercise like 30 minutes of jogging and brisk walking may bring many health benefits. Exercise and other physical activities may also promote the production of endorphins. In addition to exercise, eating regular meals and cutting down fat in one's diet may aid in the management of blood sugar changes associated in quitting smoking. 

Massage

Having a massage may promote better moods and less anxiety which may lead to fewer and less nicotine cravings. A University of Miami Touch Research Institute suggested that a two-minute hand or ear massage may curb nicotine cravings and, therefore, cut daily cigarette intake. 

There are many scientifically proven quit smoking products and alternative methods that are available. These products, however, cannot do all the work, the best and effective to quit smoking involves determination, discipline, and commitment to stop the habit permanently. Using these products and engaging in alternative methods can help smokers cut the habit by making them more comfortable and complacent to adjust to life without cigarettes. However, before taking over-the-counter or herbal products and engaging in many alternative methods to quit smoking, individuals are advised to seek the approval health professionals. They may explain various alternative methods and clarify side effects and drug interactions that may take place while under medication. With the right tools and attitude, quitting smoking can be easier than others think.

Giving Up Smoking Will Increase Your Wealth

Figures released recently by the Health Development Agency confirm that smoking is killing around 83,200 people a year in England. It is the largest cause of illness and significantly decreases smokers expected life-span.

Speak to any reformed smoker and they will tell you just how difficult it was to overcome the habit, although invariably they enthuse about their improved health and the saving in money. Did you know that smokers spend an incredible £92,000 on cigarettes, on average, during their lifetime? How's that for an incentive to quit?

It's not only the cost of the cigarettes that they'll save on. Life and critical illness insurance premiums will be healthier too – smokers can pay up to double the cost of their insurance cover. With the increased accessibility to information on the internet, people have been searching for ever lower prices for their insurance cover. This has led to a price war with insurance companies battling to retain their share of the market. In an effort to recoup some of the lost revenue, insurers have tightened their criteria and now insist that smokers must pay an increased premium to cover the health risk which their habit fuels. The standard rates for these insurance policies shown in insurance advertisements are for the fit and healthy and clearly the risks to which smokers expose themselves take them out of this category.

Once you've achieved your goal and broken the habit, you'll have to convince your insurer that you're a reformed character! You need to have given up smoking for between 1 and 5 years (most companies would be happy with 1

year) before you can be counted as a non-smoker. Then you can contact your company and ask them to re-quote. You'll see a very much reduced premium. At this stage it's worth trying the internet to see if you can save even more money. It would be as well to wait until your new insurer has checked your health details and accepted your application before cancelling your current cover.

It's no trouble to cancel a policy – stop paying! If you cancel your direct debit the insurer will contact you fairly quickly to see what's going on. You then need to tell them that you no longer require the cover. Cancellation charges will not apply.

Talking of health details, please be completely truthful when you fill in the proposal form. In the event of making a claim, your insurer will approach your Doctor for confirmation of your non-smoking status and if you're found to have misled them, your claim will be refused due to non disclosure of facts.

However long you've been a smoker, the improvement in your health gained by quitting is very worthwhile. Remember, to miss-quote someone famous, “Tis better to have smoked and stopped, then never to have stopped at all!” Or something like that.

How To Quit Smoking

One of the most vicious diseases in today’s times is smoking. It makes a person baffle for air 3 times more than a non-smoker. It has very many repercussions on the life of the smoker and those around him. It leads to lung cancer and various heart diseases like asthma and emphysema. We should thus abhor this deadly disease and quit smoking.

Quitting is not easy

But to actually quit smoking is not easy, because it is an addiction. However there are very many ways and methods that help us to quit smoking for instance we can opt for acupuncture therapy or aromatherapy. We can also opt for non-nicotine cigarettes or go for precise prescription by a doctor.

But first and foremost we need to decide in our heart to stop smoking 

and should also fix a day for the same. Inform your family about your decision and seek for their help and assistance. Throw away all the cigarette packets, ashtrays and lighters. Stop buying any more cigarettes. Rather think of the more useful and better things that you can buy with the money thus saved. Ask the other family members also, who smoke, to stop smoking. Keep yourself busy. Exercise regularly and meditate occasionally. Eat healthy food.

After doing all this you may still feel severe urges to smoke. You may also actually retort back to it, but that’s no problem, just be persistent and bring back your decision on to the right track after this break, because most of the people are successful only after 2-3 attempts.

Be prepared for withdrawal symptoms

About 80% people retort back to smoking after once leaving it and only 20% successfully accomplish the task. People retort back due to many reasons. Some say they feel agitated. Others say that the aroma when someone lights up is irresistible. But most of them do so due to the fear of symptoms that appears after that last puff viz. weight gain, aggressive thinking, dry throat, fatigue, muscle cramps, constipation, dizziness, hypersensitivity to stimuli, etc. but these are all just temporary symptoms and disappear in a few days. In fact after the initial bout is over the blood pressure, heart rate, pulse arte all get back to normal. You thus need to keep your will power strong and stick to your decision for a few more days.

Some people are not able to continue with the smoke cessation programs because they say that they are costly. But this is a wrong perception because they are not costlier than the price spent for buying cigarettes. And then isn’t it more logical to spend on your health rather on a disease.

by: Rob Mellor

Best Known Ways to Quit Smoking

When you realize that your health is in danger because of smoking or that your budget is very much affected by this or you were just struck by the idea of giving up this vice you are very fortunate to know that there are a lot of ways to quit smoking.

When you have finally come to see that your smoking habit has caused damage to your health, and wallet, and general well being, and you have decided that you would like to quit it is good to know that there are a lot of ways to quit smoking. 

Quitting smoking depends on many things. It can be fast, or slow, but one thing for sure is that quitting rely on your determination, as well as the help of others. Whatever method you try, you should be mentally prepared for the difficult period that follows your last cigarette. This difficult period is caused when the nicotine your body is addicted to is withdrawn from your body. Withdrawals occur when your body reacts to the lack of nicotine that it has become reliant on. 

The sudden impulse to give up smoking is known under the name of "cold turkey" and it is the result of a personal choice. Among the gradual ways to quit smoking may be enumerated the nicotine replacement therapy, the individual or group therapy, some modern and non-medical methods such as acupuncture, kabala practices and others but also physical exercises. 

It is incorrect to say that you are addicted to smoking because in fact you are addicted to nicotine and to the idea of a routine. The moment you try to provide the required quantity of nicotine to which your body was used while you were a smoker all you have to do in rest is to keep your hands busy and to work on your psyche. This way you'll certainly quit this vice.

Acupuncture, hypnosis, laser therapy are some modern methods that come in the help of those who want to quit smoking. Due to the fact that they are rather modern tools their efficiency for a one hundred percent success has not been completely demonstrated. 

The first step towards a successful decision to give up smoking is to find a strong motivation. This must be sought in your own person, inside you. Nobody can convince you that you should quit your vice if you are not really determined that you actually want to do this. And also it depends on you which of the ways to quit smoking best suits you, if you think that you are able to do it on your own or to ask for assistance. If you want to choose the latter variant you have several alternatives.

For best results font give up. If one way doesn't work for you, try another. Everyone is different, and so are the methods of smoking. What works well with one person wont necessarily work well with another.

4 Tips For Smoking Cessation

Tip 1: Rise above the cravings

Imagine the cigarettes as crutches. You’ve always had these crutches to lean on and soon, it becomes impossible to walk without them. The important thing to learn is that as soon as you walk on your feet again, they’ll quickly regain strength. It may be a little known fact, but about half of what a smoker inhales from his cigarette is pure air. The next time you’re hit with a craving, take some deep breaths and relax. You will soon be able to rise above the craving, feel refreshed, and move on.

Tip 2: All the reasons to quit

Why do you want to quit? Do you have children? Do you want to live to see your grandchildren? Are you sick of the smell? Whatever your reasons are, write them down. Keep a daily journal of how you feel and in the very first entry list in bold letters every reason you have for quitting. List things like health reasons, expense, inconvenience, bad breath, or other reasons and make the list as long as possible. Also be sure to list how you WILL feel when you’ve kicked the habit. 

Tip 3: The good, the bad and the ugly

After you complete your lists of reasons you want to quit and how you’ll feel after you’ve quit, make a list of the consequences of not quitting. Have other smokers in your family gotten cancer? Have they died? Do they have to speak through a hole in their neck? Will you be unable to pay off debt because you’re always buying cigarettes? Whatever you consequences, be sure to list all of them. As above, be sure to list the consequences (good consequences, of course) of quitting. Keep them to look forward to.

Tip 4: Break time!

Most smokers agree: a cigarette is a break. When quitting, give yourself breaks, but do something. Go for walk, eat a piece of fruit or drink some juice. This is critical because the body will be going through changes expelling all the accumulated poisons. The fruit will aid this process in many ways. 

Good luck!

Smoking and Heart Disease Development

This article talks about the smoking and its contribution to the development of heart diseases. The development of heart disease due to smoking does not occur quickly but actually entails a long yet equally harmful process. Quitting smoking may lessen the development of heart disease and other ailments and also improve overall health.

 Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death and disability around the world. Surprisingly, the number of people who smoke is still very high perhaps due to the little factual information they have about the dangers of tobacco use.  Cigarette-smoking is one of the major causes of heart disease and the number of deaths associated with smoking has been consistently on the rise. In the United States alone, cigarettes are responsible for majority of the deaths from heart disease. According to the American Heart Association, about 440,000 of all annual deaths of heart disease are because of smoking. Just a few sticks of cigarettes a day may double the risk of the development of heart disease. Because of the harm that smoking may do for the heart, the need to quit smoking has become an important health issue that could possibly save millions of lives.

 Many of the deaths and ailments caused by smoking do not occur quickly. It may take awhile before the chemicals in cigarettes takes its toll on certain individuals. Heart diseases caused by smoking can be a slow and painful process. Smokers may develop heart disease because smoking causes the body's bloodstream to be contaminated with nicotine, the active component of cigarettes which stimulates the brain and provides a rush of adrenaline. A rush of adrenaline may provide a “high feeling” or a sudden rush or shot of energy. However, while these moments of being high are being enjoyed by a smoker, he or she may already be exposing the heart to serious risk. Adrenaline caused by nicotine may speed up the heart rate, tighten the arteries, and strain the heart. 

When the nicotine levels of regular smokers falter, they usually experience withdrawal symptoms that may include restlessness, irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and craving for another smoke. These smokers need to smoke regularly in order to feel normal, a condition that may lead to addiction --- making it more difficult for smokers to quit smoking.

 Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, 60 these chemicals are carcinogenic and are also present in secondhand smoke. Formaldehyde, arsenic, cadmium, benzene, and ethylene oxide are only some of the substances found in cigarettes --- all of which can cause cancer. These dangerous components may stay in the air for hours and may harm one's health in many ways. These chemicals may accelerate the development of artherosclerosis, a disease that affects the large and medium arteries. This condition damages the blood vessels making them difficult to relax. Smoking may also cause the artery walls to stiffen the artery walls and cause pieces of plaque to clog some arteries. Once this plaque clogs the arteries, the heart may become starved for oxygen. In the long run, these conditions may lead to the development of heart diseases like coronary heart disease and angina (severe chest pain).

 The risk of acquiring certain conditions like cataract, macular degeneration, psoriasis, tooth loss, osteoporosis, and many more may be increased by smoking. However, it is never too late to quit smoking. Stopping the habit can drastically improve one's cardiovascular fitness and overall health. Individuals who are having a hard time cutting the habit may try using quit smoking products in the market. These products, however, cannot do all the work. The best and effective to quit smoking involves determination, discipline, and commitment to stop the habit permanently. Using these products can help smokers cut the habit by making them more comfortable and complacent to adjust to life without cigarettes. 

Many quit smoking products are available over the counter, it is best to seek the approval of health professionals to clarify side effects and drug interactions that may be developed while under medication. With the right tools and attitude, quitting smoking and reducing the development of heart diseases can be easier than others think.

 

Smoking and Surgery Don’t Mix, How to Quit for your Health

Are you a smoker who is scheduled to have surgery? No matter what kind of surgery you are having, your health will suffer if you decide to smoke for several weeks before and after your surgery.  As difficult as it is, if you are going to have surgery, you should seriously consider quitting for your health.  

Smoking and Surgery: What Can Go Wrong

 There are a number of complications, risks, and potential infections that can develop as a result of smoking pre- or post-surgery.  What exactly can go wrong?  Here's a run-down on the most common and serious complications that can arise as a result of smoking pre- or post-surgery: 

Wound Infection.  One of the most common complications that can occur if you smoke is wound infection.  Smoking, in effect, steals oxygen from cells that are in the process of healing. Smoking is a risk factor for wound infection in almost any kind of surgery.  Researchers have found that smokers continue smoking before surgery are at a much higher risk of developing wounds that do not heal properly.  

Cardiopulmonary complications.  Tobacco smoke is very hard on the heart, lungs, and the entire immune system.  If you are scheduled for any type of heart surgery, it is imperative that you quit smoking for at least six weeks before your surgery.  

Vasoconstriction.  Vasoconstriction refers to the shrinking of the small blood vessels.  Many heavy smokers are apt to experience vasoconstriction because smoking steals available oxygen from cells.  When this happens, the small blood vessels shrink and the amount of hemoglobin that is needed to move oxygen from one part of the body to another.  Smoking also interferes with other chemicals that let the body release enough oxygen to the cells.  

Post-surgery complications are greater for smokers.  Scientists at Bispebjerg University Hospital in Denmark found that patients who quit smoking before surgery were significantly less likely to develop complications post-surgery.  The researchers found that, on average, patients who quit smoking pre-surgery were kept in the hospital two days less than those who kept smoking before their surgery. 

Remember, you should strive to come to surgery with a body that is at its healthiest.  The trauma of surgery is hard on your body.  Smoking will only make it harder for your body to heal.  In some cases, surgeons may even elect not to treat a patient if they are smokers.  

Smoking Cessation for Surgery 

If you're a smoker, the best thing you can do for your body prepare for surgery is to quit altogether, or at least reduce dramatically the number of cigarettes you smoke each day.  Recent research suggests that smokers stop smoking at least six to eight weeks prior to surgery.  Unfortunately, many of the smoking cessation products that would normally be available to smokers are not recommended for those heading into surgery.  Nicotine gum and nicotine patches are not advised for surgery patients.  The nicotine in the gum acts similarly as cigarette nicotine, interfering with the healing process in much the same manner.  Nicotine patches are also dangerous because the flow of nicotine can interfere with the flow of blood.  

Many hospitals and clinics offer smoking cessation clinics that help surgery patients stop smoking before their scheduled surgery.  Here are a few general guidelines on smoking cessation for surgery. 

Stop immediately.  If you are scheduled for upcoming surgery, you don't have time to wean yourself off cigarettes.  Most doctors advise that you stop smoking as soon as you are told about your surgery.  For many people, the health scare is enough to throw the cigarettes out! 

Read up on your surgery.  Take the time to learn about your surgery.  This will help you stay focused on your health, and the importance of keeping your body in good shape for the surgery.  While you don't have to go into detail, become familiar with the procedure.  

Speak to your physician about smoking cessation aids you can use.  Many times, surgery patients are unable to use such smoking cessation aids as nicotine gum and the nicotine patch.  Find out what options are available for your specific case.  

Quit together.  Find someone to quit with you.  Making the commitment to quit with someone else will help keep you focused on staying cigarette-free.  Also, you should strive to maintain a smoke-free household during your recovery.  Some doctor's recommend that all household smokers quit or dramatically reduce smoking during the patient's recovery period.

Smoking Increases Lung Cancer Risks

It would almost seem like a given in this day and age that people would know and understand that smoking greatly increases the risk of lung cancer. Secondhand smoke has even been linked with increased lung cancer risks. Even were a person to never smoke a cigarette or be subjected to secondhand smoke, the possibility of lung cancer remains very real. But smoking cigarettes is nothing short of adding more bullets to a gun being used to play Russian Roulette—eventually, the odds of getting lung cancer will become impossible to ignore.

 In a normal body, cells grow and divide in an orderly manner. However, this order can break down. When this collapse in order occurs, cells begin dividing and growing at will and chaos results. This resulting chaos and breakdown of normal cell growth is called cancer.

 Normally, cancer will appear as a tumor, or perhaps even the dreaded “growth”. In some cases, the cancer will remain isolated to a particular spot or organ. However, it is not entirely uncommon for cancer to spread beyond its initial area into other regions of the body or organs. Spreading cancer is also known as metastasis. Lung cancer has been known to spread into other organs of the body and speed the demise of the patient.

 Tobacco is a known and proven carcinogen. A carcinogen is any cancer-causing agent. However, just because something is a carcinogen does not necessarily mean that coming into contact one like tobacco smoke will not guarantee lung cancer in your future. Scientists can, on the other hand, tell you how much more likely you are to get lung cancer if you continue to expose your body to tobacco smoke.

 The risks of lung cancer due to tobacco smoke are too great to ignore. A person smoking one pack a day has increased their odds for getting lung cancer by 30 X’s or more when compared to a nonsmoker. And, the more cigarettes you smoke every day, the greater those odds become. Plus, the number of years a person smokes continually increases their chances of developing lung cancer or other smoking-related diseases such as emphysema.

 So, if someone were to quit smoking today after having done so for 10 years, how long do you think it would take for their risks of getting lung cancer to return to normal? Believe it or not, it takes 15 years after a person quits smoking for their odds to equal those of a nonsmoker of the same age—15 years!!

 Lung cancer is a merciless killer of thousands of Americans each and every year. It generally takes decades of smoking to lead to the condition but it has been found in people in their 20’s who smoked since they were teenagers. Worse still, lung cancer is a very painful condition that can truly make the last months of life a true burden to bear. While you can still develop lung cancer even if you never smoke, the odds for developing this painful disease increase dramatically when tobacco is part of your life. If you are a smoker, tomorrow may very well be too late to quit so make sure you kick the habit today or prepare to see lung cancer in your future tomorrow.

Smoking Kills! What More Damaging Effects Of Smoking Do You Want?

Smoking kills! What more damaging effect do you want? A majority of smokers will frankly admit that they wish to give up smoking and somewhere in the past they had given up. But there is also a stubborn tribe of smokers who are not at all willing to admit the harmful effects of smoking!

Enter a conversation:

Sir Winston Churchill (the late former Prime Minister of Great Britain) was a chain smoker of cigars, lived up to the age of 85 years!

‘If he had not smoked, he would have lived up to 120 years,’ said the anti-smoking lobby. ‘What is the use of his living up to that age?’ said the smoking lobby! Die hard habits! Die hard

arguments!

Who gains from your smoking,except the Finance Minister? In every budget, he tries to crush you, and the smoker is just not bothered! He cries for a while, only to forget everything soon. The smokers as well as the industry thrive!

Statistically speaking, it is scientifically proven that tobacco smoke contains over 4000 poisonous chemicals. The number and varieties of cancer it generates is in hundreds.

Smoking damages practically every part of the human body, and heart takes the maximum pounding! Want proof? Count the number of ever-increasing cancer hospitals. Treating cancer has become a large-scale industry!

Just five decades ago, heart attacks used to be a rare phenomenon! The mixture of nicotine and carbon dioxide increases the rate of blood pressure and strains all parts of the body, the heart to be specific. How long can the heart tolerate this unbearable pressure? And one day, when it says that 'enough is enough’, the well-wishers of that human being, summon the ambulance and take him to the most unwanted place— the hospital!

To some hard-smokers, living death awaits at the far end of life! Smoking initially reduces and at a later stage cuts off oxygen supply to hands and limbs and the smokers will have to live through the agony of their limbs amputated!

The long puffs that a smoker takes and the attractive, designer coils that he sends in the air, may look attractive, but what about self-inflicted damage is his action leading to? Tar in the cigarette coats your lungs like soot in a chimney and sends a cordial invitation to cancer! You drag the puff deeper into your lungs for the joy and adventure of it, and the rotting process of the heart starts!

Smoking is a slow way to die, there is no other alternative or option. It is a well known fact that heart diseases and strokes are very common among the smokers. Smoking's contribution to heart attacks is maximum! To lung cancers too!

Are you happy or sorry? A foundation stone is being laid for a new cancer hospital!

Smoking Is Slowly Killing Your Teeth

Smoking has been known to cause various sorts of side effects and damage to the body, including debilitating the ability of some cells to regenerate. This is particularly true when the gums and teeth are exposed to tobacco. It not only aggravates damage that is already there, it can also be the cause  or what starts the damage to one's teeth and gums. 

There are many who consider smoking to be one of the filthiest, least healthy habits a person can have. The typical non-smoker finds cigarette smoke distasteful at best, disgusting at worst. There are also a number of side effects that smoking can have on the body which are damaging, particularly in the long-run. The fact that second-hand smoke does even more damage to non-smokers than it does to smokers does nothing to endear the habit to anyone. However, aside from the obvious respiratory and circulatory repercussions, there are other problems that are associated with smoking. Owing to the close proximity of the gums to the smoke caused by the habit, smokers now make up 50% of people with gum disease in the world. 

Smoking has been known to slow the healing process of the body, particularly after surgical procedures. This is especially true for orthodontic and dental surgery, which delve into the areas that receive the most direct exposure to tobacco and nicotine. Damage on the gums was originally found to have been aggravated by smoking, accelerating the rate of decay of the gums and teeth. It was later found that it was possible to have no previous dental damage at all and still suffer from the side effects of smoking, because the smoke itself can cause cellular decay in the gums. Another, recently discovered problem is that the smoke slowly undoes any repairs done to the gums through surgery. 

Aside from these issues, there are also a number of other problems that smoking can cause the mouth, teeth, and gums. Plaque, for example, becomes significantly harder to clean off. It is unknown what exactly causes this to happen, but smokers tend to have plaque build-up in their mouths that can only be cleaned off by professional tools. This would not be a problem if a person regularly visits a dentist for teeth cleaning oral prophylaxis, a procedure that should be done every six months.  This runs the risk of letting the bacteria in the plaque slowly eat away at the teeth, with some cases seeking help for the problem too late.

 There is also a pronounced risk of the bone and support structure of the teeth being eaten away. Smoking is known to slowly kill off the cells in the gums, as well as impede upon natural regeneration in that area. This can be dangerous if the gums and bones that support the teeth are already compromised by bacteria, tooth decay, or other damage. The fibers that hold the teeth in place recede when exposed to tobacco, loosening the teeth. This may be a slow process, but that only makes it such that most people simply fail to notice the problem until it is too late and the damage has already been done.

 However, it isn't just cigarette smoke that causes these problems. Even smoke-less products that are based on tobacco cause this damage, often in comparably similar degrees. According to several studies, both cigars and pipes cause the same cellular degeneration and damage rates as cigarette smoke. So far, all indications point to the problem being firmly rooted in the tobacco in the products and not necessarily the smoke itself.

Smoking Facts: Available Quitting Aids For Smokers

The article is generally about basic smoking facts involving the different aids available for those who seriously want to end their addiction to smoking. The author enumerates the four popular aids to quit smoking and explains how they can help smokers in quitting the habit of smoking.Health complications related to smoking are among the top reasons for medical consultations today. Fortunately, there are a lot of medications and counseling or therapy services available to help millions of smokers all over the world to quit the habit of smoking.

For most smokers, taking medications and attending therapy sessions are the typical recommended treatments so they can quit smoking for good. Aside from taking medications, there are a number of helpful aids for quitting smoking that do not include nicotine consumption. The most common of these aids are the self-conditioning therapy, telephone-based therapy, support system from friends and family, as well as the quit programs.

1. Self-conditioning therapy

Lucky for some smokers, they do not need to undergo any treatment or medication to quit smoking for they are able to condition or handle their cravings. Conditioning one’s mind to avoid smoking works if the person is serious in quitting the habit.

2. Telephone-based therapy

As part of the massive campaign for anti-smoking, programs like telephone-based therapy are introduced as aid for the public in their course of retiring from the habit of smoking. In this type of therapy, smokers are given the chance to talk with specialists who are well-trained to conduct counseling with individuals who want to quit smoking.Smokers who adhere in telephone-based therapies are basically given a quit plan that corresponds to their smoking conditions. This program is actually a superb complementary treatment as it gives better results when taken side by side with conventional anti-smoking treatments. Counselors are able to guide smokers in determining the things and situations they should avoid in order to have a successful quitting process.

3. Support from family members and friends

It is proven in smoking-related studies that support from family members and friends plays an important role in the speedy process of quitting from the smoking habit. It is essential for support providers to be sincere and understanding enough to the situation of their loved ones who want to refrain from smoking for good. Aside from family and friends, other sources of support are co-workers, therapists, as well as colleagues from quitting programs. 

4. Quit programs

Perhaps the best thing about joining quit programs is that a person gets to be around smokers who are also serious about ending their addiction to smoking. Quit smoking programs provide basic smoking facts and guide smokers in coping in the process of quitting from the habit. These programs are also great providers of support and encouragement in refraining from smoking.

One-on-one counseling is claimed to be one of the most effective therapies in quit smoking programs, for it holds strong therapy intensity. Effectiveness of an anti-smoking therapy is based on how intense the programs are. Hence, a greater chance of quitting success for those who undergo intense healing therapies.

On the other hand, smokers should also be wary when choosing stop smoking programs for there are institutions that advertise false benefits. Programs that should be avoided are those who promise instant success once availing their services; those who use pills or other medications as part of their treatments; as well as those that are unwilling to provide references for their services.

Smoking: Taking You A Step Closer To Oropharyngeal Cancer

This article is about the relationship between smoking and cancers of the mouth and throat.  Although it is more common that lung cancer develops from smoking, other forms of cancer may also be acquired from smoking and being exposed to second hand smoke.  People may also get cancer of the mouth, esophageal cancer, cancer of the larynx, cervical cancer, and penile cancer.

Smoking, they say, is the leading cause of lung cancer world-wide.  A recent study shows that, in the United States alone, 157,200 people have died of smoking-related lung cancer.  Some of which are caused directly by smoking, and some due to second hand smoke.  However the effect of smoking does not only stop at lung cancer. 

Smoking and cancer

      Statistics show that smoking attributes to 54% of mouth cancers, 50% of esophageal cancers, and 70% of cancer of the larynx.  And also, in relation to men and women’s sexual health, smoking increases risks of cervical cancer by 19 to 80% depending on the frequency of consumption, and it also increases risks of penile cancer by 50%. 

      These numbers certainly prove that smokers are at a bigger likelihood to develop a lot of different kinds of cancers as compared to non-smokers.  Male smokers have a 20% increased chances of developing lung cancer while women have a 13% increased risk. 

      Tobacco smoke is composed of four thousand different harmful substances, chemicals, and toxins.  Sixty out of those four thousand chemicals are known to cause cancer.  These cancer causing toxins are mainly found in tar that smokers inhale from a cigarette.  About 70% of that tar stays inside the lungs. Studies have shown that benzpyrene, one of the carcinogens found in tar, damages and slowly destroys genes responsible for fighting cancer causing cells and subsequently prevent development of cancerous tumors.  In almost 60% of smoking-induced cancers, these genes were seen to be damaged. 

Oral or throat cancer

      Oropharyngeal cancer may involve the lips, mouth, tongue, gums, salivary glands, esophagus, larynx, thyroid glands, and/or the cells lining the throat.  Its earliest symptom may be a pale lump inside the mouth that will not seem to heal.  An estimated 7,000 Americans die of oropharyngeal cancer yearly.  Smoking may cause cancer development in the mouth alone, on the throat alone, or a combination of both.  Symptoms of oropharyngeal cancer may include the following:

          o A sore in your mouth that doesn't heal or increases in size.

          o Persistent pain in your mouth.

          o Lumps or white, red or dark patches inside your mouth.

          o Thickening of your cheek.

          o Difficulty chewing or swallowing or moving your tongue.

          o Difficulty moving your jaw, or swelling or pain in your jaw.

          o Soreness in your throat or feeling that something is caught in your throat.

          o Pain around your teeth, or loosening of your teeth.

          o Numbness of your tongue or elsewhere in your mouth.

          o Bad breath.

          o A swelling or lump in the throat.

          o A persistent cough.

          o Blood-flecked phlegm.

          o The sensation of something permanently stuck in the throat.

          o Voice changes, such as persistent hoarseness or huskiness.

          o Throat pain.

          o Referred pain into the ears.

          o Swallowing difficulties.

          o Breathing difficulties.

          o Swollen lymph glands.

          o Gastrointestinal disorders, such as excessive reflux, diarrhea or constipation.

Treatment

      Treatment of oropharyngeal cancer will depend on the size, type, and location of the cancer and whether it has already spread.  It may include one or a combination of the following:

          o Surgery.  This includes surgical removal of the tumor and its affected organs.  The amount of tissue to be removed may depend on the size of the tumor and the mass it has already affected.

          o Radiation therapy.  This includes exposing the cancer causing cells to small, precise doses of radiation.

          o Chemotherapy.  It involves the use of cancer cell-killing medications that is used in conjunction to radiation therapy.

          o Long term monitoring.  This may include regular examinations and x-rays to check that the cancer has not come back.

          o Rehabilitation therapy.  This includes assistance from health professionals such as dietitians, speech therapists, and physiotherapists to regain motor functions of the affected areas.

The best way to avoid getting yourself into this situation is to avoid smoking.  It is understandable that this will be difficult to do if you’re a chain smoker.  Cutting back on cigarette consumption may help to gradually get you into the path to being smoke free.  All it takes in enough will power and discipline to keep yourself healthy and cancer-free.

Secondhand Smoke Still A Problem for Children

A recent survey looked at children's exposure to secondhand smoke and found that approximately 3 million children 6 years old and younger still are exposed regularly to secondhand smoke in their homes.

Administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this study of more than 14,000 households showed that exposure to secondhand smoke occurred more often in lower-income, lower-education households.

The survey also found that smoking by visitors accounted for less than 1 percent of exposure. Parents, on the other hand, accounted for 90 percent of the secondhand smoke to which children were exposed.

Exposure to secondhand smoke is a serious health risk, and children, whose bodies are still developing, are the most vulnerable. Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to have asthma attacks, respiratory tract infections and ear infections. In addition, exposure increases the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in children under 1 year old.

Even though progress has been made, the numbers are still alarming. In an earlier study, EPA estimated that exposure to secondhand smoke increases the number of episodes and severity of asthma symptoms in up to 1 million children each year. The agency also estimated that 

secondhand smoke is responsible for 150,000 to 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in infants and children under 18 months old. This results in 7,500 to 15,000 hospital stays each year.

A number of other studies, including one by the California EPA in 1997, support EPA's earlier findings.

If secondhand smoke is a problem in your home, take these steps to help reduce your child's exposure.

1. Do not smoke in your home or car. Do not permit others to do so, either. Moving to another room or opening a window does not protect your children from exposure because smoke stays in the air and on your clothes.